***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Suriname
Rainforest Update
***********************************************
Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
http://forests.org/
11/15/97
OVERVIEW,
SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
The
World Rainforest Movement provides a detailed account of recent
developments
in the Suriname's rainforest conservation movement. The
note
the further intensification of forest harvest, providing many
details
of recent developments.
g.b.
*******************************
RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Suriname Information Update
Source: Forest Peoples Programme, World Rainforest
Movement
Status: Distribute freely with accreditation given
to source
Date: November 5, 1997
/**
rainfor.genera: 57.1 **/
**
Written 4:42 PM Nov
5, 1997 by gn:wrm in cdp:rainfor.genera **
FOREST
PEOPLES PROGRAMME
Suriname
Information Update
1
November 1997
On
October 7, Errol Alibux, Suriname's Minister of Natural Resources
and the
Dutch Ambassador to Suriname signed a contract worth US$30
million
for the Forestry Production Control Project.
This project,
supported
by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, is intended
to
monitor logging activities by using mobile inspection units. This
is one
component of a larger project that will support reconstruction
of the
Forest Service's infrastructure that was destroyed in the Civil
War
(1986-92) and the establishment of a Timber Institute to control
logging
and promote investment in the Forestry Sector.
Alibux
also stated that protected areas would be increased from 5% of
Suriname's
total area to 10%. The Global Environmental Facility has
just
completed a preliminary assessment to identify additional areas
for
protection. Both control over logging
and increased protection of
biodiversity
were said to be part of Suriname's quest for sustainable
development
and larger responsibility to the World.
They were also
essential,
he concluded, as Suriname intends to intensify logging
activities
in the near future.
Alibux
didn't say, however, that logging concessions have already been
granted
and operations have already begun therein.
Berjaya Bhd., a
notorious
Malaysian logging company was granted an exploratory
concession
in August of this year. Berjaya has
been working illegally
in
Suriname for the past year and a half through a front company
called
Suriname American Wood Industries.
Government officials were
well
aware of this. An exploratory
concession gives Berjaya the
right
to conduct an inventory of commercial timber and to develop a
management
plan within two years. Subject to
approval of the
management
plan, it can then begin cutting.
Berjaya has already
started
constructing roads inside its concession and (unverified)
reports
have surfaced that it is already cutting timber. This
concession
is directly adjacent to the Bronsberg Nature Reserve.
Reports
(unverified) have also been made that Berjaya is cutting
inside
the Nature Reserve.
At
least two other large concessions have also been granted. One of
these
is on the South-east point of the Van Blomenstein reservoir.
This is
way beyond the bounds of the existing forestry belt. To whom
it has
been granted is unknown.
A joint
Surinamese-Chinese company, operating under the name of NV
Tacoba
obtained a concession in October 1996.
This concession covers
a large
area beginning near the Bronsberg Nature Reserve and South to
within
3 kilometres of the Maroon community of Pokigron.
Representatives
of Tacoba, described in the press as "English-speaking
Chinese,"
were recently in the Maroon communities of Guyaba and Nieuw
Aurora. They said that they were about to commence
logging operations
in the
area.
When
the communities objected, stating that approval had not been
obtained
from the village councils, the Tacoba representatives said
that
they did not need to do so as they had made a deal with the
Saramacca
Maroon Granman (paramount leader), Songo Aboikoni, to work
in his
concession. This 127,000 hectare
concession was obtained under
the
name of Sorejo Mining NV, although it is unclear whether it has
officially
been granted yet.
Guyaba
and Nieuw Aurora, and the other communities in the concession
are
outraged. They say that the Granman has
no right to give Maroon
land to
loggers as the land belongs to the clans that make up
Saramaccan
society, not to the Granman. They
intend to hold a krutu
(gathering)
of all the affected villages soon to make their objections
know to
the government and the Granman. In
particular, they will
demand
that the government withdraw the concession, remove Tacoba and
legally
recognise their rights to their lands and resources. Tacoba
meanwhile
has started to construct roads into the concession.
Indonesian
company Barito Pacific Timber Group was recently in
Suriname
to investigate the possibility of investing in oil palm
production. The meeting was attended by the Indonesian
Ambassador to
Suriname
and the Surinamese Ambassador to Indonesia.
Barito is
Indonesia's
largest plywood producer with close ties to the Indonesian
government. It has not ruled out the possibility that it
also
interested
in logging in Suriname. Indeed, it was
looking into the
possibility
of buying into Brunzeel, the Surinamese parastatal timber
company. According to company documents, it needs to
secure
additional
log supplies to maintain its plywood production operations
at
optimal levels.
Surinamese
President Wijdenbosch flew to Indonesia on the 11th of
October.
Rumors have it that a deal will be signed with Barito while
he is
there. Stating that Suriname is moving away from traditional
donors
and investors in favour of regional (Brazil in particular) and
Asian
partners, the President said that he will also discuss
Indonesian
investment in logging, mining and the energy sector.
"Energy
sector" means the Kabelebo dam project that will submerge a
large
area of pristine rainforest to provide power for, among others,
bauxite
and gold mining and logging in West Suriname.
Given
the controversy and intense international pressure inspired by
Suriname's
plan to hand out 3-5 million hectares of rainforest to
Berjaya,
MUSA and Suri-Atlantic in 1995, it is understandable that the
government
is being very cautious about granting logging concessions.
Increasing
protected areas, provided Indigenous and Maroon rights are
recognized
and respected, and increasing the capacity of the Forest
Service
appear to be positive measures. Serious
questions must be
raised
however, about the sincerity of the government and other issues
must
also be addressed.
For
instance, Indonesian company, MUSA, is still operating with
impunity
throughout the interior. Its operations
jump around from
place
to place with no regard for the bounds of its concession. It
continues
to induce local communities to strip their communal forest
areas. This is illegal under Surinamese law. It has also been
accused
of cutting experimental forest plots used for studying
sustainable
forestry practices. MUSA's operations
are so bad that
Skephi,
an Indonesian NGO, felt it necessary to inform the Indonesian
parliament. MUSA's operations have violated Surinamese
laws on
multiple
counts and it has never been fined, let alone prosecuted
despite
widespread awareness of these abuses.
It is assumed that MUSA
is
being protected by former military dictator, Desi Bouterse, himself
active
as a third party timber buyer.
Also,
the government must reform timber royalties and export duties.
These
rates are ridiculously low. In fact
they have barely changed
from
rates applicable in 1947. Regulations
raising the rates have
been
drafted and approved but have never been published. A law cannot
be
implemented until it is published. In
recent years, government
revenue
from logging has been as little as US$500.00.
When expenses
related
to the Forestry Service and the
Ministry of Natural Resources
are
added up, the government actually loses money on logging.
Undoubtedly,
the low rates have been maintained due to the influence
of
powerful local elites, like Bouterse.
If royalties and duties are
not
reformed, government assertions that logging is needed for revenue
generation
must be considered as dishonest.
Last,
but by no means least, Indigenous and Maroon rights to land and
resources
are still not legally recognized in Surinamese law. The
government
continues to give out vast tracks of their ancestral lands
to
logging and mining companies without their consent or knowledge.
Failure
to recognize and respect these rights violates international
human
rights standards voluntarily accepted by Suriname and threatens
peace
and stability in the interior.
Indigenous peoples and Maroons
have
stated as recently as one year ago that they will fight to defend
their
lands against miners and loggers. Also,
recent government
statements
on protected areas indicate that Indigenous and Maroon
rights
will be neither recognized nor respected. If Alibux gets his
way
these areas will be prohibited to humans with the exception of
paying
ecotourists.
For
more information, please contact:
Forest
Peoples Programme
1c,
Fosseway Business Centre
Stratford
Road
Moreton-in-Marsh,
GL56 9NQ
United
Kingdom
Tel.
44. 1608. 652. 893. Fax. 44. 1608. 652. 878
Email :
wrm@gn.apc.org
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
This
document is for general distribution.
All efforts are made to
provide
accurate, timely pieces; though ultimate responsibility for
verifying
all information rests with the reader.
Check out our Gaia
Forest
Conservation Archives at URL= http://forests.org/
Networked
by Ecological Enterprises, gbarry@forests.org